1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a configuration of a card holding device that can effectively hold a card received in an electronic device, particularly a mobile device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic communication technologies are applied to various aspects of daily life. Particularly, a mobile communication terminal is a representative electronic device with a processing speed that is rapidly growing. The mobile communication terminal has various additional functions such as web surfing.
Further, electronic devices are designed in various sizes according to the desired functionality and user preferences. Even if electronic devices from several companies have the same or similar features, a user tends to prefer the electronic device having a thin design with a small size.
As electronic devices advance to a thin design, an external device that can perform additional functions may be detachably attached to the electronic device to add additional functionality.
A memory card such as a secure digital (SD) card, mini SD card, and micro SD card can be an external device that extends the storage space of an electronic device. A personal identification card, such as a subscriber identification module (SIM) card, may be detachably attached to the electronic device so that multiple users can use a single electronic device.
External devices can be configured in a card type that may have a thin design and that minimize the required mounting space. The external device may have a separate slot to selectively insert the cards to be used by the electronic device. For an electronic device with a thin design, it may be necessary to efficiently use a mounting space for attaching and detaching various sizes of card type external devices.
In a conventional SIM/SD card tray type socket, a holding structure for the mounted SIM/SD card does not exist, and because the holding structure does not exist, the card does not come in close contact with the tray and maintains a separated state; thus, the card may be dropped from the electronic device. For other tray type sockets, there is a tray with a structure in which both surfaces are received or a tray to which an overlap design is applied, but because the tray for both surface receiving structures has a structure that holds a card with two ribs and one protrusion, there is no structure that holds a received card at the low end; thus, there is a problem that the card can drop from the electronic device due to the effect of gravity. Even in a tray to which an overlap design is adapted, when a mold is abraded, there is a problem that a holding force changes, and when a gap difference occurs because of the insertion of various sizes of cards, it is impossible to hold the card. Thus, an entire socket may be damaged.
Further, in a structure of connecting two ribs by forming a protrusion in an intermediate portion, when an excess stress exceeding a prescribed pressing amount is applied to a rib from any one side, the rib may be damaged. Even if a holding structure is formed in an outer edge portion, a crack can occur in a tray injection portion from the repeated mounting/removing of the card, and after such a crack occurs in an injection portion, an entire socket may be damaged.